Let the Big Three fail Let the Big Three fail

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4:00 am PST, Thursday, November 13, 2008

A lot of GMC SUV's on sale at a dealership in Dormont, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged to their lowest price since the days of World War II as investors continued to dump their shares amid panic that the automaker could be in danger of collapse and that its shares could soon be worth nothing. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) less

A lot of GMC SUV's on sale at a dealership in Dormont, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged to their lowest price since the days of World War II as investors continued to dump ... more

Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP

Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP

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A lot of GMC SUV's on sale at a dealership in Dormont, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged to their lowest price since the days of World War II as investors continued to dump their shares amid panic that the automaker could be in danger of collapse and that its shares could soon be worth nothing. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) less

A lot of GMC SUV's on sale at a dealership in Dormont, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged to their lowest price since the days of World War II as investors continued to dump ... more

Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP

Let the Big Three fail Let the Big Three fail

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Editor - For two decades, the Big Three American automakers have been making a fortune building and selling gas-guzzling SUVs while Toyota and Honda were developing energy-efficient, well-designed, long-lasting cars.

They were able to profit so mightily because their SUVs were exempted from the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards. Now the crybabies want a bailout? I say, "Heck no." Let these companies wither or be bought up by companies who know how to make good and useful cars for the 21st century.

BRUCE JOFFE

Piedmont

Sorry, automakers

Editor - The financial institutions are in trouble because of subprime loans. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are in trouble because of retirement and health-care obligations. These obligations are the result of unachievable contracts between unions and the automakers.

We must face the fact that the auto industry created its own problem. We cannot expect the taxpayers to bail them out. We all have obligations of our own.

Expensive semantics

Editor - I totally agree with Bob Nystrom (Letters, Nov. 11), even though I voted against Proposition 8. We just spent $73 million on a semantic argument. Gays feel discriminated against if same-sex couples vowing to love, honor and cherish aren't formally acknowledged as "married," while some churches claim that broadening the traditional meaning discriminates against them.

The answer is semantic separation of church and state. Cede the word marriage to religious institutions. Substitute another, for example, union for marriage and unite for marry.

Let churches call their religious marital ceremonies marriages, whether they marry opposite-sex or same-sex couples. Then they can squabble among themselves about the proper use of the term and leave our secular government and culture to confer, respect and enforce equal rights and responsibilities to all united couples.

It will take awhile to get used to union status instead of marital status on applications and forms, but adapting certainly will be less costly - in energy, money and divisiveness - than continuing to fight bitterly for years in the courts, legislatures and voting booths.

Editor - Caltrain's recently adopted Bicycle Access and Parking Plan includes a section labeled Innovative Concepts. One concept not mentioned is a method to incentivize the railroad to be on time and not bump off passengers.

Airlines work very hard to keep their customers happy when passengers are bumped from overbooked planes by paying for seats on other airlines and by routinely providing accommodations for stranded passengers.

I propose a Caltrain passenger bill of rights similar to that of the airlines, whereby every passenger receives a coupon good for a free ride each time she or he is bumped.

When trains arrive more than 10 minutes late, award some lesser compensation, perhaps a dollar off the next train ticket.

Such a policy will encourage Caltrain to provide adequate capacity for all passengers and at least provide some recompense. It will also promote careful planning to meet current and future capacity needs.

Rewarding delinquents

Editor - I have been reading about the latest proposals to help those who are affected by the mortgage crisis. The current proposal requires that people be a minimum of three months behind in their mortgage payments in order to qualify. When will there be any assistance for those of us who are struggling to keep up?

I bought my home in Lodi in April 2006, at the height of the real estate boom. I have three mortgages on the home, one of which is a second mortgage with a balloon payment due in April 2009. When I took out this loan, I was assuming that I would be able to refinance when the balloon was due, as I had planned to have the third mortgage paid by then. Instead, my home has lost over a third of its value, and there is no hope of refinancing when the loan comes due.

I have therefore taken on a second job and am now working approximately 70 hours in a typical week. Despite this, it will be a struggle to pay the balloon on the second mortgage and the third remains hanging over my head as well. Over the past year, my family has had to go without, both in the material sense and as regards to my being available at home. When my mother-in-law passed away in August, we had to take on additional debt as well, overdrawing our checking account in order to travel to Indiana for her funeral.

Now I read that there is apparently no help available to us. Fairness and equality are substantial components of the base upon which our society is built. Any program in which a person has to be delinquent in order to receive any assistance, further punishing those who struggle to fulfill their obligations, is neither fair nor equal.

Good all over

Editor - I notice in your Nov. 9 article, "ZIP code guide to lost wealth," that you sum up: "It's bad all over" ... "Home prices have declined in more than 90 percent of the Bay Area ZIP codes over the past year."

Of course, it is bad - or at least not the continuing nirvana of never-ending housing appreciation - if you own a home, and your home has lost some value. But for those who don't own a home and might like to buy one, we might conclude that it's good all over. These people live here, too. Was the writer thinking only of those who already own homes?